tasty grain free recipes from a former omnivore

healthy mexican rainbow salad

ohhh yessss please!! this healthy mexican rainbow salad is making me do the I-don’t-even-care-if-it’s-100-degrees happy dance because I am eating a rainbow, and it tastes amazing. I always thought a rainbow would taste amazing…

but fo’ reals this salad really is my idea of the perfect summer lunch or dinner salad, and I think if you give it a try you’ll have to agree! besides prepping your veggies and making a simple salad dressing there’s not much else to it. which of course, leaves you with more time to go jump in that lake after dinner!

a bowl of crisp shredded romaine lettuce starts everything off just right here, (which! side note! very important news flash – this lettuce is super nutrient dense! right up there with spinach and kale. I will no longer feel ashamed for my love of caesar salad! [source]) and is then piled high with pretty rows of your favorite mexican themed veggies, black beans, avocado and chopped cilantro.

I chose to take full advantage of the deliciousness of that roasted red pepper & harissa vinaigrettethat’s hanging out in the blog archives to dress this salad, although I’m pretty sure the dreamy green saucewould also be a very solid choice. just depends if you’re in a red food mood or a green food mood. you guys have those too, right?

anyways…after you pick your dressing you’ll want to add some cotija cheese, or cow’s milk feta, and toss it all together until it’s perfectly coated and dazzling at you with all of it’s healthy-rainbow-beauty!

Instructions

fill a large serving bowl with your chopped romaine lettuce.

top with all remaining ingredients except cheese and dressing. I love the look of “rainbow” rows of veggies – it makes such a beautiful and appealing presentation! this step can be done a few hours in advance of serving if salad is stored in the refrigerator.

once you are ready to serve add cheese, dressing, and toss everything together until evenly coated. taste for salt and pepper.

serve in individual bowls garnished with a little more cotija or feta cheese.

you might wanna throw a bowl of organic tortilla chips on the table too just to elevate the whole mexican salad experience 😉 I would be lying if I said I didn’t do just that!

Did you make this recipe? I would love to know how it turned out! you can leave me a comment below, or snap a picture and post it to instagramwith the hashtag #nyssaskitchen! xo